Vatican Museums Guided Tour Tickets

The Vatican Museums is the second-most visited art repository in the world (the Louvre stands first), and it houses 70,000 works of art. 

Out of these, 20,000 are on display within 42,000 square meters (450,000 square feet) of space.

That’s a staggering amount of art to consume in no less than two hours—the minimum time spent by a tourist at the Museums.

And this calls for a Vatican Museums guided tour, offering you access to exclusive areas and hidden gems not readily available to the self-guided ticket holders.

But before we dive into these tickets, let’s first understand the differences between a regular ticket and a guided tour ticket.

Regular ticket vs. guided tour ticket – which is better?

While a regular ticket is a cheaper and popular way of getting into the Museums, a guided tour ticket carries several benefits like those listed in the table below:

As we have observed above, Vatican Museums guided tour tickets offer better value for money than a regular ticket. 

Here are some popular guided tour tickets for your perusal:

Vatican Museums guided tour ticket

Looking for a fast-track entrance to the Museums and Sistine Chapel? 

Want a live tour guide fluent in Europe’s top spoken languages? 

Well, this guided tour ticket is definitely for you!

One of the best things about this tour is that you get a lot more information on what’s inside the Museums at a more leisure pace. 

Your guide will first take you through the grand entrance of the Vatican Museums, followed by a visit to the 26 museums, 54 galleries, 3 courtyards, and corridors within the attraction.

The tour lasts for 2.5 hours and you will be provided with a headset so that you don’t miss out on what your tour guide is explaining.

There are two time slots available for this tour—3 pm and 5.30 pm. 

Please arrive at least 15 minutes before your booked time slot at the Italypasstours office in Via Vespasiano 20; your guide will escort you from there

The adult ticket (18+ years) is priced at €90, and the child ticket (5 to 17 years) sells at a reduced fare of €80. Children under 5 years can enter the Museums for free.

Note: You get a full ticket refund if you cancel up to 24 hours before your visit date. You can also reschedule your ticket date to any other day up to 24 hours prior to your Museums visit.

Do you know you can enter the Vatican Museums for free? On every last Sunday of the month—barring religious holidays, the Museum doesn’t collect any entrance fee and its doors are open to visitors from 9 am to 2 pm. The last entry is at 12:30 pm. So make sure you arrive well in advance to gain an early entry!

Vatican, Sistine Chapel, and St Peter’s private tour ticket

This Vatican ticket offers you the best of both worlds; you don’t just get an official Vatican Rome guide but also a private tour in English of the Vatican Museums and St. Peter’s Basilica.

Being a 3-hour tour, you get access to areas normally closed to the public such as the Vatican Museum’s secret chamber, Cabinet of the Masks.

Apart from this, you also get to discover the hidden gems and treasures of the Papal collection.

We suggest you wear comfortable footwear as you need to walk approximately 2 miles (3.2 kilometers) to visit both the regular and hidden parts of the Basilica and Museums. 

The meeting point for this tour is the Caffè Vaticano, right in front of the entrance of the Vatican Museums.

The adult ticket (18+ years) for the private tour sells at €237.50 per person. It is actually priced at €250, but you get a discount of 5% when you book now 

The private tour ticket for youth aged 6 to 17 years, carries a discounted price of €125. Kids aged 5 years and under can enter the Museums for free.

You are eligible for a full refund if you cancel your tickets up to two days before your visit date.

If you are a group of 12-15 members, we recommend booking the Vatican group tour ticket. The ticket is inclusive of a live guide fluent in English and with over 10 years of experience.

This skip-the-line tour has a total duration of 3 hours and is a bestseller with tourists and natives alike.

Evening guided tour ticket

If you want a more exclusive experience, do buy the Vatican Museums and Sistine Chapel evening tour ticket.

This 2.5-hour tour starts at 4.15 pm and is available only in English.

It is limited to 12 participants and offers you skip-the-line access to all the museums within the attraction.

The best thing about it being in the evening is that you can tour other attractions in Rome during the morning and then visit the Museums when they are less crowded.

Do note that you can only enter the Museums and not St. Peter’s Basilica as the church remains closed in the evenings. 

To begin your tour, meet your guide at the Gaudium Travel office at Via Germanico 67; from there, you will be escorted to the Museums’ entrance.

The ticket for this category is priced at €115 for adults aged 18 years and above. 

Children aged 6 to 17 years pay a discounted ticket price of €110. Infants aged 5 years and under can enter the attraction for free.

Most guided tours offer a full ticket refund if you cancel your ticket up to 24 hours before your visit date. Some tickets even allow you to reschedule your tickets to a date of your choice (please check the ticket page for more details).

Night guided tour ticket

Looking for some quiet and calm when walking through the Museums’ ancient corridors?

Well, there’s a Vatican at Night Tour with Sistine Chapel and Museums ticket that includes an expert guide walking you through the Museums, which look splendid and ethereal at night!

One sincere recommendation: Before you enter the museums, do turn around and take in the panoramic night-time views of St. Peter’s Dome—you’ll love it!

The highlight of this tour, which begins at 5.30 pm sharp, would be you getting to spend more time in the Sistine Chapel.

Other attractions at the Museums—Nero’s Bathtub, Raphael Rooms, Laocoön and His Sons, the Belvedere Torso, etc—also look magical in the gallery’s track lighting.

The night tour ticket is priced at €99 for adults aged 18 years and above. Youths aged between 5 years to 17 years pay a discounted price of €69. 

Children aged 4 years and under can enter the attraction for free.

Make sure you arrive at least 10 minutes early at the meeting point, Caffe Vaticano, located directly across the street from the Vatican Museums Entrance. 

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Early morning Vatican Museums tour ticket

There’s something about sunsets and sunrises and how they make everything beautiful. The same holds true with this early morning guided tour which starts at 6 am sharp.

The duration of this tour is 2 hours and it offers you privileged early access to the Vatican Museums before the crowds arrive.

Headphones and radios are also provided to help you hear your tour guide more clearly.

And the guide for this tour is none other than the guardian of the Vatican’s sacred doors, the Clavigero!

The ticket’s group size is limited to 20 members. Thus, you get a unique glimpse into the Vatican’s treasures, the Sistine Chapel and Raphael Rooms up close.

Tickets for the exclusive early morning guided tour with Clavigero are priced at €725 each for everyone aged 7 years and above. Children aged 6 years and below can enter the attraction for free.

The meeting point for this tour is located 200 meters Northwest of the Vatican Museums’ entrance. Make sure you arrive at least 15 minutes before the tour commences.

Fancy a late afternoon private tour of the Museums? Well, there’s a private late afternoon Vatican tour available on Fridays and Saturdays that starts at 5.30 pm, when the crowds are less and you get a more intimate experience at the attraction. Tickets prices start from €290 for adults aged 19 years and above. Children between the ages of 7 and 18 years, pay a discounted ticket price of €55. Infants aged 6 years and below, can enter the museum for free.

Private Vatican city tour including Vatican Gardens ticket

If you are looking for a special tour offering you the best that there’s in the Vatican, you’ll find it all under the Private Vatican city tour including Vatican Gardens ticket.

This ticket includes a guided tour that takes you through the Vatican Gardens first, then the Vatican Museums, and finally St. Peter’s Basilica.

The tour ends at St. Peter’s Square. 

One of the biggest benefits of buying this ticket is that you can skip all the lines and visit the Vatican Gardens which is generally closed to the public.

Once you have toured the Gardens, you can access the Museums from Bramante’s Courtyard, and likewise, exit the Sistine Chapel and enter St. Peter’s Basilica from the North side.

The Private Vatican city tour including Vatican Gardens ticket costs €315 for a group of 10 visitors, irrespective of age.

The duration of the tour is 5 hours, and it starts at 9 am, Monday to Saturday.

There are certain do’s and don’ts that need to be followed irrespective of what guided tour ticket you buy. For instance, avoid wearing sleeveless and low-cut garments, shorts above the knee, miniskirts, and hats. Big bags and suitcases aren’t allowed inside the attraction. Make sure you leave them at the lockers on-site.  Also, you aren’t allowed to click photos and record videos inside the Sistine Chapel. Knives, scissors, metal tools, and food and drinks aren’t permitted inside the Museums.